Google Adds Rust DNS Parser to Pixel 10 Modem to Reduce Memory-Safety Risk

Summary

Google says Pixel 10 modem firmware now uses an adapted Rust DNS parser to reduce memory-safety risk in the cellular baseband. The implementation uses hickory-proto and cargo-gnaw; Google notes the crate is not optimized for memory-constrained systems.

Key points

Google integrated a Rust-based DNS parser into Pixel 10 modem firmware, making it the first Pixel device to use a memory-safe language in its modem.
Google says the change targets memory-safety vulnerabilities in the cellular baseband that could enable remote code execution.
The parser adapts the hickory-proto crate for bare-metal and embedded environments; cargo-gnaw manages its more than 30 dependencies.
The Rust implementation exposes a C API and uses existing C functions to update in-memory DNS response data structures.
Google says the crate is not optimized for memory-constrained systems and notes that feature flags could enable selective compilation.
The effort builds on earlier modem protections, including IntSan and BoundSan; the article cites CVE-2024-27227 as an example of a memory-safety issue.

Article Details

Event Type: Google integrated a Rust-based DNS parser into Pixel modem firmware as a security hardening measure.
Impact: Available on Pixel 10, the parser is intended to reduce memory-safety vulnerabilities in the cellular baseband and limit a class of flaws that can enable remote code execution. It builds on earlier modem protections; the article reports no specific incident or user impact.